Rollercoaster Mum: January 2012

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Saturday 28 January 2012

Listography - Top 5 Biscuits

I haven't done a Listography in a while as I have problems just managing to blog once a week with the 52 Photo Project so that's not too much of a surprise but when I saw it was about biscuits well I had to join in - late as usual though. Well not so much late as just making it by the skin of my rinny tin teeth - story of my life really - certainly happens nearly everyday on the school run.

Anyways I digress - back to biscuits:

1/ Chocolate Gingers
These have to be my absolute favourite - dark chocolate and ginger - heavenly combination!

 2/ Boasters - or anything similar
Chunks of chocolate and nuts in yummy biscuits - mmmmmm!

3/Digestives
Yeah I know a bit boring but I do like a good digestive - plain or with plain chocolate. The plain ones just have that hint of saltiness as well as the sugar and they are fandabulous with blue cheese. (Plain ones do really need to be McVities blue/white doesn't cut it here!)

3/ Party Rings
I'm with Kate on this - although only my youngest child agrees - oldest won't touch them (weird child!). They are a childhood memory on a plate


4/ Chocolate Bourbons
Favourite every day biscuit that's always in the biscuit tin 'cause we all like them and they are cheap (well when you buy the blue and white ones they are anyway and they taste pretty much the same!)

So there you are my favourite biccies to have with my copious cups of coffee - what are yours?

Saturday is Caption Day!

For once this is not the kids. It was taken on our recent weekend away to Greenwich and is probably the only pic you will ever see of OH!

Friday 27 January 2012

Weekend Away - 52 Photo Project - Week 4

I haven't taken so many photos this week - for one the weather has been shite and I have been trying (and mostly failing) to get my act together and get organised (New Years Resolution fail). No more excuses - Christmas is over, birthday is over - need to get off my arse and get on with it. Unfortunately this seems to have come coupled with a malaise of just not managing to get anything done - must do better next week. Did manage to contact Tax credits people and job centre today so have started - trouble is all that stuff is so depressing I just find myself putting it off again and again.

Anyway on a lighter note OH and I did manage a weekend away in celebration of our birthdays (his is next month). We ditched the girls with Grandma and disappeared to a rather lovely weekend in Greenwich - stayed at a great hotel - the Devonport House - you do get flasher ones but it was amazing value for money and a perfect location. We mooched around the market, had a bracing walk in Greenwich Park, saw a Guardian Ad being filmed (it involved people with pigs heads on - no really!), had meals out, read the paper and drank too much wine and whisky. I guess it's no wonder I feel a bit down this week - nothing to look forward to and shitloads to do. I would thoroughly recommend Greenwich and the Devonport House for a weekend away (with or without kids). Anyway the photo had to be from the weekend - so here it is - had to be Picniked too of course (can't believe this is closing and I've only just discovered it - grrr!)


If you would like to see more of my little Photo Project take a peep here.  

And if you'd like to see more photos from fellow 52ers or the brave 366ers click the badge below:

Friday 20 January 2012

The Gallery - Eyes

I love joining in with the Gallery over at Sticky Fingers but was a bit slack towards the end of last year so I eagerly awaited the first theme of the New Year from Tara but I was to be disappointed as it was a photo taken on your 'phone. I don't have a fancy 'phone - mine does take pictures - just - but they are truly crap and I have no idea how to get them from 'phone to computer anyway so I couldn't join in :( 

This week however I think the theme has been inspirational - I discovered all sorts about my little compact digital camera and had a good play with it as well as a good play on the Picnik site which I have been longing to do for ages so here are my photo's - both undoctored and doctored. Like a lot of people my children's eyes feature heavily - who doesn't like gazing into their children's eyes? I have also included a pic of one of our chicken's eyes as well as it made a fascinating project trying to take photos of a chicken's eyes - I had to pick her up and tuck her under my arm eventually and the photo was taken with one hand! (thank you for your patience Balti!) Oh and I was required to take pics of Teddy's eyes too!

So here you are - the photos Picniked first:

Little Miss Sunshine

Little Miss Star

Little Miss Sunshine and Teddy
Balti - our Speckeldy Chicken 

And now for the undoctored photos: 

Little Miss Sunshine

Little Miss Star

Little Miss Sunshine and Teddy

Balti the Chicken

Birthday - 52 Photo Project - Week 3

With the beautiful frosty weather this week I once more took loads of photos and it was really hard to choose (again) but I ended up with this photo as although it is more ordinary than a lot of the photos I took I think it is probably the event that my girls will remember. It was my birthday this week and this of course means cake has to be involved when you have kids. OH had made some cupcakes as he wasn't brave enough to make a big one (bless!) but the cake had to be had without him as he was at work. We did have a great Thai takeaway later though and he did get me a really lush pressie so I'm not complaining!
By the way I warn you I will be doing a montage of beautiful frosty days next week - I have so many photos I want to show off and I have at last managed to have a play on Picnik (as you can see even this photo has been doctored slightly) so there's no stopping me now!!


If you would like to see more of my little Photo Project take a peep here. 

Saturday 14 January 2012

Life's Ups and Downs

As I said in my 52 Photo Project post it's been a funny old week with lots of ups and downs. Last weekend was mostly down in that it felt like we were back to being a sad family with everyone shouting but we did manage a wonderful winter walk and OH did fix the tiles in the kitchen that have been needing fixing since last March - yes March!!

On the upsides this week: 

I accomplished loads on Monday on my first time alone in the house since Christmas - heaps of cleaning and tidying was done. Little Miss Star's bedroom finally looks clear again, I chucked loads of stuff out (there is loads more to do but it's a start) and she passed on some toys to her little sister. New Year's resolutions started!

Our poorly chicken is better and laying eggs with the best of them - we are now getting 4 eggs a day most days and now we don't know what to do with so many!! I managed to sell 3 half dozen yesterday - yay!

We finally got a new piece of furniture that OH had ordered. We have been looking for something to put a much longed for aquarium on for literally years - the aquarium will be OH's birthday pressie - it is big birthdays for both of us this year so he deserves it and he has wanted one ever since I met him over 12 years ago and there has always been a reason why not - he should finally get his wish at for... I mean 21!

I met up for a coffee with a good friend and had a good old natter and had another natter with another friend when her little girl came to play with Little Miss Sunshine. Always good to talk,

We've had some gorgeous sunny winter weather - and there is more to come according to the weatherman - love it like this cold and bright.

This all sounds good but the downsides have knocked me for 6 a bit. 

The main one being Little Miss Sunshine's sleeping habits. She is 4yo and has always varied between a good to average sleeper but in the last few weeks has been waking more and more for absolutely no reason - not ill, not nightmares or night terrors - just lost teddy, lost blankie, sort my covers out or other random unnecessary requests. This culminated on Thursday night in her waking me about 10 times - consequently I have been knackered and bad tempered too say the least and so has she. This results in much shouting and general unhappiness for everybody in the house.

What with tiredness and busyness I have not done what I wanted to do in the continued clearing of the house and keeping up with the blog so it all went rather downhill from Monday.

I am also now completely unemployed again as the temporary packing job I was doing before Christmas kept us on for a bit but they have now given us notice - so back to the dole queue - really fucking depressing that one.

Anyway to end on an up note - Little Miss Sunshine decided she wanted to go to bed at 5.30pm tonight and touch wood seems OK and next Monday is my birthday and I am hopeful I am getting the pressie I want and I plan a fab weekend and a shopping trip all to myself - just me - only me on Monday - can't wait!!

Saturday is Caption Day!

Got so many photos to use this week and thought this was perfect for a caption - it was actually taken this week- if you'd like to see more head on over to Mammasaurus.

I'd love to know what you think would be a caption for Little Miss Sunshine's dressing up antics...

Winter Walk - 52 Photo Project - Week 2

Well it's been a bit of a funny old week really and I have taken lots of photos - so many I almost began wondering if I should join the 366ers until commonsense took hold again. However it has been hard to choose which photo to use for this post - inevitably you tend to take photos of the up stuff not the down stuff and right now as I am writing I still don't know which one I am going to choose!

Last weekend felt a bit like the family was slipping straight back into pre-Christmas ways - moany kids, angry husband etc but the girls and I (minus OH) did manage an 'expedition' across the ranges with their bikes. The ranges are often out of bounds as it is MOD land used for exercises and if the red flags are flying (which is most of the time) then you can only go round them and not across them. They are a fairly bleak but I think a beautiful and rather magical landscape with a certain Narnia or Tolkienesque character and the kids love them. It was a bright sunny, cold winters day with that wonderful winter light and it has to be one of these pictures this week.

So here it is - this is the one - the girls on their bikes on the ranges on a cold, bright winter's afternoon.


   (I have a feeling you may get quite a few more photo posts later this week to use all those other photos!)

If you would like to see more of my little Photo Project take a peep here. 

Friday 6 January 2012

Twelfth Night - 52 Photo Project - Week 1

Well it's twelfth night (6th Jan - although some people think it should be the 5th Jan but that's another story) and the Christmas decs must come down. I hate this moment each year as the house looks so bare afterwards and it signifies another year gone by in my children's lives. Next Christmas my baby will be a schoolgirl and that is just so scary.

Anyway on that last night, before I must put the decorations away, I like to turn out all the lights except for the fairy lights and just chill thoughtfully in front of the tree and this is what I'm looking at tonight. Farewell tree for another year - I'm sure you'll look even more sparkly and beautiful next Christmas. x.



This is my first post in the 52 Photo Project -  a photo posted every week for a year. I have put up a special page for these on my blog so you can look at them all together if you want - you can find the page here. If you would like to see some of my fellow compatriots - many far more dedicated than me and doing the 366 Photo Project (a photo a day every day for a year - I kid you not!) the you can find the links here on the Love All Blogs 366 and 52 Photo Project Group.

Sunday 1 January 2012

Happy New Year - my (sort of) New Years Resolutions

Now, I'm not normally one for New Years Resolutions. I don't think I have ever decided to go on a diet, start running or any other of those get healthy type of New Years Resolutions. I think I would like most people fail within the first couple of weeks so what the hell is the point? But stuff has happened in 2011 that made me think that I would have a couple of resolutions - whether I keep to them or not is entirely another matter of course.

So here goes - in no particular order as they say:

1/ Be nicer to my children and not shout at them so much - this will be a tough one but I'm hoping if I shout less they might shout less too! They can be little shits sometimes too (quite often actually) so much as I love them it can be hard to be nice sometimes but we have had a pretty good hols (apart from the first day which was HOR - REN - DUS, but time has dulled the memory already) so feeling warm and fuzzy about them.

2/ Sort my emails out - if I could get them down to less than 100 I would feel I had achieved something!

3/ Sort out the piles and piles of crap in our house - OK this one is soo likely to fail but it soo needs doing, our tiny house is getting tinier by the week - desperately need a clear out. I plan to do one room at a time - I'll start with the smallest - bathroom it is then! You never know I might even find enough stuff to do a car boot sale.

4/ Get a job - or start making money from this damn thing - just need a small income - please!!

5/ Get my blog a bit more 'sorted' - design wise and post wise - I found NaBloPoMo too much so will not be blogging everyday however it would be good to be a bit more organised and plan to do say twice a week. Do I need to be a bit more focused on subject matter and many other questions to be answered...

6/ Not blog, tweet, facebook too much and make time for my family - including my OH - who now knows about the blog (but seems v disinterested - phew!) - we did not have a good year and I think we have made progress in the last few weeks and I really really do want us to stay together as a family. If I'm being serious this is probably more important to me than anything else - so not so many stupidly late nights on the 'pooter', or twittering over tea. I need to concentrate on my family when they're around and leave all the rest (however fascinating you all are) to other times. Need to be more organised - again!

Well that turned into quite a list! All things I have wanted to do anyway - maybe writing them down will make them happen - I can but hope. I have also just noticed that they are mostly to do with being more organised - so that's it in 2012 I will be more organised! (maybe).

Happy New Year to you all!
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